BBQs, bells and bear sprays

MarsBar Slice- brings out the smiles

Temperature much kinder today - could actually move around without breaking out in a sweat. In fact, so chilled for our morning coffee on the porch at 11 am even had to utilise one of the blankets to keep the cold at bay.

The table showing 31 for Thursday and 23 today Friday  ..  

We set up on the front porch for our (routine) late breakfast and got down to serious business on getting that east coast visit in place - finally settling on an itinerary at the clock ticked over to 3.00 pm.

It was then on to #VIA Rail to make bookings and set up our "loyalty" points programme. We were on the phone for 90 minutes with one of their agents - incredible customer service and a very patient and persistent experience as our Canadian phone numbers didn't seem to work for payment. All this for a mere $400 addition to Ur existing itinerary. 

We now have the "complete" west to east down pat - with planned stops from Vancouver- Toronto - Niagara Falls - Ottawa - Halifax - Quebec City and Halifax. 

Admitting, in my "enthusiasm" hadn't quite figured in two issues that arose throughout the day. The first one was from @Kathy_E who sent through a genuine and innocent research query today in preparation for her trip next year about the bed configuration on the train. Oh dear - hadn't given that a thought. But after a bit of Dr Google, now, belatedly, and with some trepidation, realise it is an upper and lower berth! 🤔 Need to check out the #Peloton tomorrow to see if there is a preprogrammed routine that can help with that! Dare I say it? "@Mac's on top!" Double entendre (oh la la, a bit of Francaise) intended.

And that's a perfect segue (good try but it's Italian) into the language dilemma. @Robyn, BBQ friend from Ottawa, gave us the low down on the politics of Quebec and the predominance of French in that bilingual province. Between us, we have two phrases: mine "Je suis ici" and @Mac's long-standing attempt at suave song lyrics ... "Voulez-vous coucher avec mois ce soir?" Not sure how much action either of us is going to get with these phrases. We need @Robyn to at least sort out our coffee request.

PS when I typed in @Mac's phrase, the text auto corrected to "Voulez-vous coucher average moisture?" @Mac currently looking at me wondering why I am laughing so much.

Prep today was for the pre- birthday celebration of @Ian. Last year we joined him in #Hawaii - this year in #Canada. He must be special.

Not really sure how it all happened - because we seemed to be on the phone when all the action took place.  Somehow the driveway outside their porch was transformed with tables, chairs and BBQ, it was festooned with lights and birthday decorations, food and drink materialised and then the troops arrived. Think the real locals may have done this setup once or twice before.

Teamwork - it just takes two.

 Loads of laughs and no shortage of stories with plenty to learn in our attempt to be locals. Most importantly: bear bells alert the bead to your presence (@Lloyd - you were right - don't p!$$ them off - and @Liz the consensus on the bell was a resounding "no"); bear spray isn't like an insect repellent (silly me - I thought you sprayed it on yourself to keep them away) it's more like a #mace for bears; and "whatever you do, don't follow @Stu." Loved sharing in the "fun" of everyone's stories (not just @Stu) - there were so many "local" stories to tune into. Especially loved playing dress-ups with little @Grace and her precious "bare bum dolly" - what a hoot.

We nailed the dress-ups!

#MarsBar Slice was a hit as the pre-dessert - but the real stars of the night were @Em's cupcakes - they ar ae staple for the group and were "inhaled" - all went so quickly we didn't even have time to sing THE song for the birthday boy.

Always a hit. Lucky it survived till the evening.

Not really a "sharing" thing - for 😍 or 🤑

 @Ashley keeping the girl crew in check! 

Were extra diligent and #bear_aware in bringing the tablecloths inside and shaking them into the bin - but I am a little nervous about all the dropped crumbs outside - wonder if we will have visitors tonight?

Some serious conversations here this evening around the fires as they edge closer towards neighbouring communities. @Chad's WhistlerBlackcomb team is on standby with equipment if needed over the weekend and more evacuation orders have been flagged.  It is possible the #SlowFoodCycle planned for Sunday (@Mac was all prepped for the EBike) that promotes the produce of local farmers may be cancelled. This ride involves community road closures - this would be problematic for the. evacuations as this is the only route south.

Finishing our night ready to cheer the #Matildas. Hope #SuncorpStadium is turning it on.